


in the summer silence

by trashtigers



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Canon Divergence, Female pronouns for Pidge, Fix-It, Kinda, M/M, Season 7 Spoilers, Short, adam is only mentioned, ambiguous ending, hes alive but he’s not in this fic, i wrote this on my phone in one go, let him be happy, shiro centric, unedited
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-13
Updated: 2018-08-13
Packaged: 2019-06-26 21:08:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15671316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trashtigers/pseuds/trashtigers
Summary: Shiro was numb.He stood still, hand touching the memorial for what felt like the hundredth time since Voltron had returned to Earth months earlier. It was late, and Shiro could feel exhaustion creeping, but he still stood still.





	in the summer silence

**Author's Note:**

> i am afraid i haven’t actually finish all of season 7 yet as i’ve been busy, hence why this i consider this to be canon divergence as i’m not 100% sure what happens in the last episodes (and also why admiral sanda is probably ooc) but i felt the urge to write this after seeing adam’s death. i’m also not the world’s strongest author, so please don’t expect too much of this jsjsks

Shiro was numb.

He stood still, hand touching the memorial for what felt like the hundredth time since Voltron had returned to Earth months earlier. It was late, and Shiro could feel exhaustion creeping, but he still stood still. It was easier for Shiro to grieve when the other paladins were sleeping; most of them were still only teenagers, and the last thing they needed was to see one of their leader figures breaking down. It was easier to forget, too, during the day, when his mind was occupied with the war.

Shiro couldn’t sleep. So he found himself returning most nights.

Shiro looked at Adam’s face staring back at him from the plaque. Adam W. Another wave of guilt and rage rushed over him. If only they had gotten back sooner, if only they hadn’t sent Adam out to fight, if only Admiral Sanda hadn’t sent all of those people to their deaths, if only. 

Shiro had hoped for a tearful reunion, where Adam would run to him, and they would apologise to each other and rekindle their relationship. He knew it was too optimistic - Adam had made it clear that they were done, and Adam almost never went back on his word - but he had hoped.

Returning to find Adam dead was unexpected. He knew it was a possibility, God, he knew it was a possibility, but he never truly expected it to happen. Why couldn’t the universe be kind to him, just once? Part of him couldn’t even believe that it was real. He had always thought that he would just instinctively feel if someone he loved was dead, but since coming back to Earth he had felt nothing. Something felt wrong, and Shiro couldn’t explain it.

His hand closed into a fist, and he felt a tear trail down his cheek. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair that after he had been through that he didn’t even get a happy ending back on Earth. Adam had been his fiancé, and even Keith was managing to warm up to him. It wasn’t. Fair.

He turned and let himself slide down the wall.

 

It was daylight when a meeting was called. Admiral Sanda had asked to see the paladins, which wasn’t surprising, but Shiro still felt as if something was off. When they all had arrived, she turned to them.

“We’ve received a distress signal,” she said, glancing to Iverson, who was standing next to her.

“You called us into a meeting to tell us that?” Pidge asked, adjusting her glasses. 

Sanda looked over to her. “I called you here to inform you that this distress signal came from close proximity to the location where we received our past signals from the first wave of fighters.”

Shiro’s eyes widened slightly. “So you mean that some of them could still be alive?” He was struggling to understand his emotions - there was a chance that Adam was still alive.

“There’s a slim chance of that,” Sanda stated. “It’s been years, so I doubt that they would have waited this long to signal us.”

“But there’s a chance?” Of course Shiro knew that the odds were small, but he was willing to do anything to find Adam at this point.

“Shirogane, I did not call you here so that you could investigate this distress signal,” Sanda explained. “You and your crew have expressed multiple times that you wish to be let in on the information the Galaxy Garrison receives. This distress signal is not a priority, however I felt as if I should let you know of this. We will send out a squad to investigate once we have a squad to spare. Right now, we need all hands on deck to fight against the Galra.”

Shiro looked at Sanda, feeling anger bubbling. “What do you mean this isn’t a priority? You sent these people to their deaths, and now that there’s a chance they’re alive, you’re not even going to consider trying to find them?” Shiro saw Keith nod in agreement from the corner of his eye.

Admiral Sanda took a step forward, and looked him in the eye. “Listen to me, Shirogane. I am giving you a direct order to focus on your duties as a member of Voltron right now before I regret telling you about this at all.”

“It is my duty as a paladin to help those in need, and right now the people giving off the distress signal could be in need!”

Lance stepped forward slightly, and put his hand in Shiro’s shoulder. “I’m with Shiro on this one,” he said. “These people could be in danger!” Shiro gave him a look of gratitude. 

The other paladins nodded. 

Sanda was starting to turn slightly red. “I am sorry, Shirgone, about Adam. But I can not allow you to risk your lives and the lives of other innocent people for something that may not even be a problem!” she said forcefully. “You will leave this alone, and that’s a direct order!” 

Shiro stiffened at the mention of Adam, and he felt Keith do the same next to him. 

“Who’s-,” Allura started, before she was cut of by a glance from Keith. 

Keith curled his hands into fists, and stepped forward. “It’s rich of you to say that we’re risking innocent lives,” he said slowly and deliberately, “when you’re the one who sent them to die in the first place.”

“They died honourably in battle!” Sanda shouted. “They died to protect Earth against the Galra! There is nothing else to the story.”

“If you expect us to believe that then-,” Keith started, before Shiro cut him off.

“I am going to investigate this distress signal. I am going to go see if we can find someone alive whether I am by myself, with Voltron, or with a thousand men,” Shiro stated. “I have followed orders time after time, even if I believed they were wrong, but I can’t sit here and do nothing. Not if there’s something I can do. This isn’t just for Adam. It’s for the countless others whose names cover the memorial that you let die. So with all due respect, Admiral Sanda, I am leaving, and you can’t stop me.”

And with that, he turned around and walked out of the room.

**Author's Note:**

> i have an idea for a second part for this, however i’m still not sure how that is going to play out, so for now this is a oneshot with an ambiguous ending. however, spoiler for if i write a second part, adam is in fact alive, and shiro does get a happy ending, because he deserves one. also, if i write a second part the paladins will also probably play a bigger role than they do here. but there’s no guarantee i’ll write one sorry kids :/ it depends on if i’m able to decide on where to go with it.


End file.
